LG Electronics Partners with Meridian Audio on New Speaker Designs for CES 2018

LG Electronics (LG) and Meridian Audio have announced a partnership on the development of new consumer audio products. The first results of the partnership will be presented at CES 2018, and include a Dolby Atmos soundbar, portable speakers, and the LG ThinQ smart speaker, featuring Google Assistant voice recognition. LG wants to combine its consumer electronics expertise with Meridian’s audio technologies to deliver "high-performance audio to more people across the world."

Bluesound introduced its new Pulse Soundbar at CEDIA 2016 and will be showcasing it at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2016 in Denver (7-9 October). This is the world’s first soundbar to support Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) high-resolution audio, joining Bluesound’s family of MQA-ready wireless Pulse speakers and Node players, enabling wireless hi-resolution music streaming to any room in the home.

With the trend towards multi-room audio at home evolving towards wireless solutions, Sony continues to expand its range with complete systems to address also multichannel entertainment for the living room with its slim, compact HT-RT5 Sound Bar with wireless rear speakers and subwoofer. The new Sony HT-RT5 system combines also support for streaming audio and direct connection of high-resolution audio via HDMI.

Sony unveiled its new audio product lineup scheduled for release in 2015 at the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas with a total of ten new devices, including a Hi-Res compatible top-of-the-line Walkman, headphones, wireless speakers, home theater systems, and multi-channel integrated amplifiers.

Futuresource Consulting hosted its Audio Renaissance event in London on 23 October featuring prominent industry executives to explore the future landscape. “The Audio Renaissance: Market Dynamics in the New Audio Age” conference explored the business opportunities within music and audio, the services, hardware and content that will shape the future landscape.